 "Donald Trump")
“Wow.” That’s how an unidentified writer responded when Donald Trump showed him — in July 2021 — a classified plan to attack an unnamed nation.
Also with them at the time were a publisher and two Trump staff members, none of whom had a security clearance. The gathering took place at the former US president’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, according to an indictment charging Trump with federal crimes.
Trump told his guests that the plan of attack was prepared for him by the Department of Defence and a senior military official, adding that as president he could have declassified the document he was showing.
“See as president I could have declassified it,” he said, according to a transcript in the indictment. “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”
The indictment recounts evidence that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team has gathered from witnesses and other sources in the two-year effort to figure out what government documents went with the former president when he left the White House — and whether any crimes were committed.
The documents found during the probe were from at least seven government agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, National Security Agency, Department of Energy and more, according to the indictment.
Trump’s indictment represents the first time a former president has faced federal allegations of criminal conduct.
